HeySage

In this episode The Sage shows you how to make screengrabs using the built in features of OS X (difficulty level: easy).

You can watch the latest episode here

How do we do it

There are three ways to make a screen grab anywhere in OS X. They are:

1. ⌘-Shift-3

   This method will make a screen capture of your entire screen. All you need to do is press all three keys at the same time and an image will be placed on the desktop.

2. ⌘-Shift-4

   This method will bring up cross hairs that you can use to make a selection of the area that you would like to capture. All you need to do is simply click and drag. Once you let go the screengrab will be made and the image will be placed on your desktop.

3. ⌘-Shift-4 and then The Space Bar

   The third method (⌘-Shift-4 and then The Space Bar) makes a window grab. If you would like to capture the contents of a single window this is the preferred method. Once you press ⌘-Shift-4 the cross hairs will become visible. Pressing the space bar changes the cross-hairs to a camera. As you move the camera over a window it becomes highlighted. Simply click to capture that window. Once you do the .png file will appear on your desktop.

It is probably worth mentioning that you can make screengrabs by using Grab, a free application that ships with OS X. With grab you have the option of grabbing a window, selection, screen, or timed screen. The options can be found under grab > capture.

Last but not least, grab can be accessed through the services menu of any application that supports services.